ITU-T TechWatch Alert (February 2010)

Batteries for portable ICT devices

How to store large amount of energy in batteries for increasingly complex mobile and portable applica-
tions is a major technological challenge, and of particular importance in the area of information and
communication technologies (ICT). At present, both manufacturers and governments are investing in
research on clean and energy-efficient technologies and longer-lasting batteries to cater for portable
electronic devices with power-hungry features. This Alert summarizes some of the key trends and de-
velopments.

Advances in processing power and new-generation communications links have increased mobility and
driven the demand for mobile phones, laptops and other gadgets, including e-books, portable me-
dia/MP3 players and digital cameras. (Hybrid) electric cars have become the dynamo of many motor
shows 1, and on-board battery packs are a crucial ingredient. Market research suggests that the $71 bil-
lion-a-year world-wide battery market – rechargeables accounting for two-thirds – could grow by 4.8
percent annually through 2012 2.

Battery characteristics
The speed at which mobility and portability advance depends to a large degree on battery performance,
but while mobile ICT devices have been enhanced quickly, batteries have not kept pace. In recent years,
batteries have been improved in terms of energy density, but higher power requirements of devices
have eaten up any benefit made in better battery performance, with the result being more powerful
devices with the same runtime.

To address the demand

Box 1: Starting from Bricks for longer device run-
The picture shows a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X
(Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage), the times, progress has been
world’s first commercial cellular phone, receiv- made in reducing power
ing FCC approval in 1983. Also known as ‘brick consumption at different
phone’ for its dimensions (33cm x 4cm x 9cm)
levels of the system de-
and weight (0.9kg), the $3,995 phone and its
battery offered a half-hour talk time, up to sign, allowing devices to
eight hours of standby time, and took 10 hours operate more energy ef-
to recharge. More than 25 years after Motorola ficiently. Some of these
launched the brick, the number of global mo-
advances in energy sav-
bile phone subscriptions has grown from ap-
proximately 300,000 in 1984 to more than 4.6 ings are, however, again
billion today. offset by the demand for
Source: Retrobrick, http://www.retrobrick.com/moto8000.html faster processing of lap-

1
See, for instance, Geneva International Motor Show 2010, and ITU/ISO/IEC’s The Fully Networked Car workshop,
3-4 March 2010, http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/ict-auto/201003/
2
The Wall Street Journal. “The Search for a Better Battery Seems Everlasting,” 28 October 2008.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122514888694374121.html

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 ITU-T TechWatch Alert (February 2010)

tops or energy-hungry multimedia features of mobile phones (see Box 1).

To design an all-in-one solution – a safe, lightweight, small size and environmentally friendly battery,
with a high-energy density, long run- and lifetimes – appears to be a difficult task. An overview of impor-
tant battery features and characteristics is given in Table 1. While no breakthrough innovations are im-
minent, existing solutions are being gradually improved and adapted to best meet the particular re-
quirements of a given device or application.

Table 1: Battery characteristics (adapted from various sources, mainly BatteryUniversity.com)

Characteristics Description Unit NiCd NiMH Li-ion Li-ion Lead-

polymer acid
Energy Density Amount of energy stored in a given system per Wh/kg 40-60 30-80 100-160 130-200 30-40
unit. Gravimetric and volumetric energy density. Wh/L 50-150 140-300 270 300 60-75
Nominal cell Potential difference the battery can supply when V 1.2 1.2 3.6 3.7 2.1
voltage charged.
Charge / Dis- Amount of power used from the battery while % 70-90 66 80-90 99.8 70-92
charge Efficiency discharging divided by the amount of power
delivered to the battery while charging, multip-
lied by 100 to yield per cent.
Self Discharge Internal chemical reactions reduce the stored %/ 20 30 5 5 3-4
charge of the battery without any connection month
between the electrodes. It decreases the shelf-
life of batteries and causes them to have less
charge than expected. It is highly dependent on
temperature. Numbers for discharge at room
temperature.
Fast Charge Time "Fast" Charging: Recharge requiring complex hours 1 2-4 <1.5 <1.5 8-16
circuitry (e.g., timers for fail-safe cutoff) for
faster charging time.
Lifetime It is the elapsed time from manufacturing and years n.a. n.a. 2-3 2-3 5-8 (car
until before a battery becomes unusable wheth- bat.), 20
er it is in active use or inactive. (statio-
nary)
Cycle Durability Number of complete charge-discharge cycles a # 1500 500- ~1200 ~1000 500-800
battery can perform before its nominal capacity 1000
falls below 80% of its initial rated capacity.
Maintenance Maintenance period for procedures to keep the months 1-2 2-3 Not Not 3-6
requirement battery in good condition , e.g., to avoid sulpha- required required
tion
Memory effect Performance degrading effect describing batte- YES NO NO NO NO
ries gradually lose their maximum energy capaci-
ty when repeatedly being recharged after being
only partially discharged.
Safety (1) Thermally stable (2) (2) (3) (3) (1)
(2) Thermally stable, fuse recommended
(3) Protection circuit required/recommended,
can rupture, ignite, or explode when ex-
posed to high-temperature environments
Toxicity (1) Highly toxic, harmful to environment (1) (3) (4) (4) (2)
(2) Toxic lead and acids, harmful to environ-
ment
(3) Relatively low toxic, recycling recommend-
ed
(4) Low toxicity, disposable in small quantities
Cost Energy per consumer-price (approximately) Wh/US$ n.a. 1.37 2.8-5 2.8–5 5-8

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 ITU-T TechWatch Alert (February 2010)

Even though manufacturers and advertisers state battery run- and lifetimes, this information should be
treated with caution, as it depends on variable usage patterns, e.g., power management settings, the
use of features (WiFi, DVD drive) or applications. To date, no common methodology or standardized
procedure is available to provide exact and comparable information on battery runtime of ICT devices.

Current battery technologies

Today's most known and most used batteries are based on lithium-ion (Li-ion), nickel-metal-hydride
(NiMH), lead-acid and nickel-cadmium (NiCd). While the sale of NiCd batteries has been legally banned
in the European Union due to toxic components 3, lead-acid batteries are typically found in applications
which require high peak power, e.g., to start a car, or in scenarios where battery weight is a minor con-
cern, e.g., for uninterruptable power supply. However, due to their low energy density, lead-acid batte-
ries are not practical for mobile use.

For this reason, Li-ion and NiMH batteries are most commonly used in portable electronic devices, with
Li-ion batteries usually offering a higher energy density than NiMH. In addition, Li-ion batteries allow for
a great number of charge/discharge cycles without memory effect, which ensures a long battery lifetime:
it is estimated that Li-ion batteries lose up to 5 per cent of charge per month due to self-discharge
processes, compared to an up to 30 per cent loss per month in NiMH batteries. Form and weight are
important factors for the choice of batteries in portable devices. Li-ion batteries exist in a wide variety of
shapes and sizes while being relatively light weight. Advantages of NiMH over Li-ion batteries include
lower cost, high current, and no need for processor controlled protection circuits. NiMH batteries are
often found in digital cameras.

New energy sources for mobile devices

The constant need to recharge batteries compromises the mobility and autonomy of the devices they
power. Aware of this, many manufacturers are involved in the research for advanced or alternative
energy sources that should also be safe, clean and cheap. Promising technologies exist, although a lead-
er has not yet emerged.

Research on mobile power supplies can be generally grouped in three categories 4:

1. Incremental advances to current solutions, mainly in the field of Li-ion batteries;

2. Application of known alternative power supplies (such as photovoltaics, fuel cells, thermoelec-
tricity, piezoelectricity, (human) movement) to mobile devices;
3. Breakthrough developments by applying nanotechnology: cell-sized batteries, nanoscale fuel
cells, nanoscale capacitors, electroactive polymers, dielectric elastomers, new semiconductor
compounds and the use of organic materials.

3
European Union: “Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and elec-
tronic equipment,” 2002/95/EC, February 2003. http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32002L0095:EN:HTML
4
Robion, A. et al.: “Breakthrough in energy generation for mobile or portable devices,” Telecommunications Ener-
gy Conference, 2007, pp.460-466, 30 September 2007 – 4 October 2007.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/4448710/4448711/04448821.pdf?arnumber=4448821

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 ITU-T TechWatch Alert (February 2010)

Within the second category, an exploratory focus has been laid on photovoltaics and fuel cells 5. If these
technologies could be miniaturized and incorporated into portable electronic devices, they would
represent a step forward in extending the autonomy between recharges.

Solar photovoltaics have been used in some applications for about three decades (e.g., in pocket calcula-
tors), and recent progress has encouraged some ICT manufacturers to experiment with thin-film solar
cell powered portable devices 6. However, as solar radiation is highly variable, photovoltaics can at best
extend battery lifetimes at the current state of development. Other obstacles for mobile use of solar
cells include efficiency, size and cost.

Fuel cell systems, in particular direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technologies, are embraced by some as
the energy technology of tomorrow. Similar to conventional batteries, fuel cells produce energy through
an electrochemical reaction, but from compounds like hydrogen, methanol, and ethanol. The main dif-
ference is that fuel cells are constantly being charged due to the flow of chemicals, as long as the fuel
supply lasts. Current DMFCs are limited in the power they can produce, but they can still store a high
energy content in a small space. This means they can produce a small amount of power over a long pe-
riod of time. This would make them optimal for consumer goods such as mobile phones, laptops and
cameras (see Box 2). The main hurdles to be overcome for fuel cell technology in such devices include
power handling, down-sizing and cost. For now, there still exist problems related to the longevity of the
fuel cell stack and the membranes, the core of the engine. Hence, fuel cells are at present often found
only in special applications, such as providing power to space vehicles and submarines, in environments
where no combustion is possible, and where toxic exhausts cannot be tolerated.

Nanotechnology – the branch of engineering that deals with things smaller than 100 nanometers (espe-
cially with the manipulation of individual molecules) 7 – can be applied to most current technologies with
a multitude of bene-
Box 2: Mobile fuel cells fits, among them mi-
niaturization, flexibili-
ty in scaling, and in-
creased energy densi-
ty for energy storage
systems. One field of
nanotechnology re-
search is addressing
the storage of energy
Toshiba DMFC laptop Hitachi fuel cell PDA
in carbon nanotubes,
Source: Fuel Cell Today, http://www.fuelcelltoday.com

5
Jiang, L. and Korivi, N.S.: “Miniature fuel cells for portable power applications,” SoutheastCon, 2007. Proceedings.
IEEE , pp.343-343, 22-25 March 2007.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/4147361/4144548/04147448.pdf?arnumber=4147448
6
LG Display Co.: “LG Display Unveils ‘Solar Cell e-Book’,” October 2009.
http://www.lgdisplay.com/homeContain/jsp/eng/inv/inv101_j_e.jsp?BOARD_IDX=1773&languageSec=E&kinds=IN
1
7
See Princeton WordNet http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=nanotechnology

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 ITU-T TechWatch Alert (February 2010)

for instance with the help of electric fields. Also, the properties of nanomaterials can be beneficial to the
development of high-performance Li-ion batteries. But before being ready for use in consumer goods,
further research is required to better understand the mechanisms of lithium storage in nanomaterials,
and to achieve controlled, large-scale synthesis of nanostructures and kinetic transport on the interface
between electrode and electrolyte 8.

An even more recent field of research focuses on cell-sized batteries. These are tiny microbatteries
about half the size of a human cell, which might one day power a range of miniature devices by stamp-
ing them onto a variety of surfaces 9. One of the potential benefits of nanotechnology and cell-sized bat-
tery technology is that they could open the way for new features and start a new era for mobility.

Chargers and charging of portable ICT devices

Closely connected with battery powered devices are adapters and chargers. When replacing a mobile
phone, the user is usually obliged also to replace its charger, which is often not compatible even within
the product line of the same manufacturer. The growing pile of unused chargers causes a great amount
of unnecessary electronic waste and inconvenience to users. As part of its work on ICT and climate
change, the International Telecommunication Union’s telecommunication standardization sector (ITU-T)
is progressing in the approval process for a technical standard describing an energy-efficient one-
charger-fits-all new mobile phone solution. Developed by ITU-T Study Group 5 on environment and cli-
mate change, Recommendation L.1000 (ex. L.adapter) or “Universal power adapter and charger solution
for mobile terminals and other ICT devices” 10 provides high-level requirements for a universal power
adapter and charger solution that will reduce the number of power adapters and chargers to be pro-
duced and recycled by widening their application to more devices and increasing their lifetime. This so-
lution also aims to reduce the energy consumption and to increase energy efficiency. The introduction
of the new standard is estimated to lead to a 50 per cent reduction in standby energy consumption, an
elimination of up to 82,000 tons of redundant chargers, and a subsequent reduction of 13.6 million tons
in greenhouse gas emissions each year. Moreover, the use of the power adapter and charging solution is
not limited to mobile phones and addresses a great number of ICT devices.

Optimized power efficiency features at higher data rates are also expected from the next generation of
computer interfaces, such as USB 3.0. Consumer products featuring this new interface are expected to
become available in 2010 11.

Wireless recharging is an area of research aimed towards address replacing chargers and cables and
powering mobile devices on the fly and over distances up to several meters using non-radiative electro-

8
Wang, Y. and Cao, G.: “Nanostructured materials for advanced Li-Ion rechargeable batteries,” IEEE Nanotechnol-
ogy Magazine, vol.3, no.2, pp.14-20, June 2009.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?isnumber=5034972&arnumber=5036051
9
MIT Energy Initiative Spotlight: “MIT engineers work toward cell-sized batteries,” September 2008.
http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/spotlights/cell-batteries.html
10
ITU-T: Draft Recommendation L.1000 “Universal power adapter/charging solution for mobile terminals and oth-
er ICT devices,” draft text currently available for ITU members and TIES users, at http://www.itu.int/ITU-
T/aap/AAPRecDetails.aspx?AAPSeqNo=1996, October 2009
11
See http://www.usb.org/developers/ssusb

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 ITU-T TechWatch Alert (February 2010)

magnetic coupling. The technology has shown to be able to wirelessly power devices, such as DECT
handsets or vacuum cleaners, in the range of a few milliwatts up to kilowatts. 12

Energy and communications for all

By the end of 2009, ITU estimated there were 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions globally (3.3 billion by end
of 2007), making mobile cellular the most rapidly adopted technology in history, and the most popular
and widespread technology on the planet 13. A major part of this growth is taking place in the developing
world, where there is no or limited access to reliable power grids in some places, notably rural areas. In
some instances, mobile phones might even outnumber lightbulbs 14. Users often need to come up with
creative alternatives to overcome the lack of ubiquitous power supplies: some kiosks in rural areas not
only recharge (prepaid) units, but also batteries. To foster development of batteries or devices that do
not solely depend on electric power grids for recharging, and to gradually improve and expand the ener-
gy infrastructure are therefore essential to connecting any user, anywhere, and to bridging the digital
divide. Programs and projects to find ways to provide sustainable electrical energy supply at minimum
cost and to enable access to ICTs for these regions are being spearheaded by different international or-
ganizations.

For instance, the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP 15), managed and sponsored
by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is a global technical assis-
tance program which helps build consensus and provides policy advice on sustainable energy develop-
ment and contributes to the transfer of technology and knowledge in energy sector management and
the delivery of modern energy services to governments of developing countries and economies in transi-
tion. The ITU launched a series of global initiatives – Connect a School, Connect a Community, ITU Wire-
less Broadband Partnership, Connecting Village, etc. – to engage a wide range of stakeholders to imple-
ment projects of significant scale and impact to help connecting the unconnected by 2015 16.

Conclusion
Batteries play a critical role in the usefulness of mobile ICT devices, and with an increasing number of
users going mobile, the importance of reliable and efficient mobile energy supply will increase. Technol-
ogies such as fuel cells, cell-sized batteries, nanotechnology and improvements in current Li-ion batte-
ries may increase performance duration and thus autonomy and portability of devices. Besides power
requirements, the evolution of batteries does also need to consider aspects such as size and weight, cost
and environmental impact. Nonetheless, so long as batteries continue to be based on electro-chemical
processes, limitations of power density and limited lifetime will be difficult to be overcome, making the
battery the ‘weak link’ of mobile devices. However, a number of promising new technologies may pro-
vide solution in the mid- to long-term.

12
WiTricity Corporation: “Wireless Electricity Delivered Over Distance,” http://www.witricity.com/
13
ITU: “The World in 2009: ICT Facts and Figures,” October 2009. http://www.itu.int/ITU-
D/ict/material/Telecom09_flyer.pdf
14
Appfrica blog: “Do Cellphones Outnumber Lightbulbs in Uganda?,” 14 July 2009.
http://appfrica.net/blog/2009/07/14/2134/
15
See http://www.esmap.org/
16
See http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/

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 ITU-T TechWatch Alert (February 2010)

This ITU-T TechWatch Alert was prepared by Esmeralda Florez and Martin Adolph (tsbtechwatch@itu.int). The opi-
nions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International
Telecommunication Union or its membership. To find out more about ITU-T’s Technology Watch Function, please
visit http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/techwatch.